QB Hayden Whitten had his best statistical start. He was 13-for-18 for 208 yards passing, with another 49 yards on 12 carries. He rushed and passed for touchdowns, while converting on field goals of 21 and 40 yards. He averaged 38.3 yards on three punts. He had three conversion kicks and passed for a 2-point conversion.

HB Devin Stevenson had 107 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. He now has three 100-yard rushing games in four starts. He is averaging 110 yards rushing per game and 5.6 yards per carry.

WR Jaylen Johnson had 88 yards on four rushes and four pass receptions for an average of 11.0 yards per play. He has caught at least one pass in 11 straight games.

Burleson holds a 15-11-0 edge in the 26-game series with Joshua. The Elks have a three-game winning streak in the series.

When Burleson takes the field against Joshua, it will mark Gary McElroy’s 50th game as head coach of the Elks.

QUOTEBOARD

Chance Showers, CB, Junior

On second-half defensive play: “We didn’t play bad in the first half, but we didn’t play Elk football. We just got after it in the second half. We got fired up at halftime and got momentum on our side.”

On responding from deficit for a win: “We’re just tired of losing.”

On defensive personnel: “We’ve got a great defense. We have great dudes up front, great guys in the secondary, amazing linebackers. We have talent. We just have to put all the pieces together.”

On next week vs. Joshua: “We’re going to play Elk football.”

Hayden Whitten, QB/PK, Junior

On offensive play (484 total yds.): “The offensive line blocked to the best of their ability. The receivers caught the ball. We executed the game plan.”

On WR Jaylen Johnson: “He catches the ball and makes plays with extra effort. He got the yardage we needed. He did well all around.”

On Whitten early running success: “The offensive line just made big holes for me.”

On offensive tempo: “We started out slow. We were playing their game. We figured out what we were doing wrong at halftime and came back out and played Elk football, not [dictated] by our opponent. We blocked well, ran well and caught the football. We just ran the ball hard and executed the offense.”

On Alan Zaragoza taking kickoff chores from Whitten: “I’m not kicking right now.”

Gary McElroy, head coach

On Alan Zaragoza taking kickoff chores from Whitten: “We’re trying to give [Whitten] a break. We’ve got to get him off the field some time.”

On offensive start: “We have a bad habit of looking at our opponent’s record and their past and then we don’t play up to our potential. We felt that we were the better football team. I don’t mean that to slight Granbury. They did some good things. They played well. They gave us some problems.”

On first half play: “We did not play up to our potential in the first half. We were very flat, uninspired. We had some motivational speaking going on at halftime in the lockerroom. As a result, we played better in the second half all the way around.”

On second half offensive rhythm: “We started picking up our pace to a more upbeat tempo offense. That put them in a bind and we began to start taking yardage in chunks.”

On going for fourth-and-5 at Granbury 7: “I thought we could get it. We called a slant and wanted to throw it back over to the single side on our sideline. It was there. The pass went up top and they tipped it at the line. We could have kicked the field goal, but our defense was playing better. They ended up punting and we drove down to score. Even if they aren’t playing great, I’ll put up our defense against a 93-yard drive. Our kids are going to make plays.”

On inconsistent offense: “We’ll do something really, really good, and then we relax. I don’t know what that is. I don’t what is giving our kids the thought process that they can pause, relax or take a breath. Like the first drive of the game, we’re driving, mashing, mashing, mashing and we get close. The next thing we know it’s fourth down and we have to kick a field goal. We follow that with a punt, then go down and score, then two more series of punting the ball. We had three, 3-and-outs out of five possessions in the first half. That’s just unacceptable. It’s not being focused. I really don’t know what it is.”

On halftime talk: “We inspired them at halftime. We challenged a few with playing time. We challenged the group to get focused, fired up and to play. They responded as I would expect they would.”

On road game at Joshua next week: “We’re not going to take anyone lightly. We’re going to have to go to their place, and we’re 0-2 on the road. We’re going to have to play up to our potential. That is going to be the focal point of this week. We need to quit looking back. We get ahead and look back instead of sprinting to the finish line.”

On play of receivers: “Kayden Cassidy had a good night for us. Louie Hill did as well. Jaylen is such a slippery, dynamic player we can get him on something minor and he can turn it into a big gain for us.”

On Whitten to Hill for TD, looking a lot like Preston Paden’s favorite route to Taylor Bissell: “It’s similar. It’s a play-action pass. They kept bringing their safety down to play the run. We ran a post over his head and the safety bit on the play fake.”

On opening District 9-5A with a victory: “We’re glad to be 1-0. It’s never as pretty or as ugly as it seems until you watch the film. We’re glad our kids rose up in the second half and got the win. It feels good to win. We just need to continue doing that.”